


Cold

by AngelynMoon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, Medical Inaccuracies, Medical Procedures, No anesthetic, Post-Avengers (2012), Serious Injuries, Surgery i suppose, Trapped
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:54:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23228203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelynMoon/pseuds/AngelynMoon
Summary: What if Steve had a few more problems after his stay in the Ice.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Direct result of my brain saying: what if the serum kept Steve alive in the ice but the prolonged cold damaged his nerves, while he can still use his limbs just fine he can no longer feel them, Steve can't physically feel anything anymore.

There is so much that he has to learn when he wakes that it takes some time for Steve to notice, even with all the tests that S.H.I.E.L.D. did once he was back in their building.

In fact, it's not until after Loki that his attention is called to it.

He'd been making breakfast for the Team since he was the first one up and it hadn't been until J.A.R.V.I.S. had mentioned an odd reading that Steve realized that he had cut through his palm while cutting up a half-ham for ham slices.

Steve had run the cut under water to clean ot, the cut itself already in the process of healing, and realized that he had not felt either making the cut nor had he felt the stung of running it under the water.

Steve had cleaned up the blood before the others arrived at the dining table and, with the injury already healed, had decided that it wasn't worth mentioning, wasn't worth worrying the Team over.

Besides it was probably just that his body was still getting back to normal after the ice.

But as time went by the lack of feeling in his body, not just his hands, persisted.

Steve began to pay more attention to his surroundings in order to hide it, to keep his Team mates unaware, he did not want to worry them, they had their own lives and problems, they did not need his as well.

He paid attention to the dipping of his skin when someone touched him, the pressure of his muscles being pressed into his bones, the movement of his clothing as Natasha displaced air when she stepped up behind him, just a touch too close. 

He noticed the drops of blood on his Uniform from an unfelt cut when Clint's arrow scraped along his cheek as it passed just a breath too close before it embedded itself in an enemy and Steve hadn't flinched an inch because he had not felt it, hadn't noticed it until he'd seen it slid passed out of the corned of his eye as it flew by.

Although Thor, Clint, and Tony had been impressed Steve had started to become concerned, the concern growing with each incident.

With J.A.R.V.I.S.' aid in searching the internet he had discovered that prolonged cold cold kill limbs and extremities, people too but that was not useful in his case, usually this prolonged cold and dead limb resulted in amputations.

Steve had ended up sitting back in his chair after finishing his reading.

Seventy years was a long time to be exposed to the cold, he should be dead, really, that it appeared the cold had damaged tbe nerves in his skin it had not taken his ability to use his limbs at least.

Steve would just have to be careful of injuries and stay alert to his surroundings.

Perhaps J.A.R.V.I.S. would assist him.

Steve sighed as he got up, so much was different in this time, what was one more thing to adjust to?

\---

A/n: just a little thing i thought of and decided to write out.

There are so many ways this could go like Steve just powering through some very concerning injuries because they didn't look as bad as they are or him going out and hearing a shot but not realizing he's actually been shot because he can't feel it.

I mean there are a lot of things.

If you want to go softer Steve falls asleep on the couch, cue contest to see who can poke him awake, only Steve doesn't even twitch, at first they chalk it up to a Soldier's ability to catch sleep where they can when they can but they notice he always jerks awake at the slightest noise, sometimes even shaking him doesn't get him up.

There are just so many things...

But have this little blub for now.


	2. Chapter 2

There's a hole in his stomach, Steve knows this because he catches sight of it in the dim light that surrounds them, tbe light from Tony's Arc Reactor.

Tony hasn't woken yet and while Steve is increasingly concerned he is also glad because this gives him time to hide the wound he cannot feel.

He's not sure how bad it is, though he's sure if it had been Tony that took the hit like their enemy intended the other man would be dead, even if he had his suit, which he didn't.

Now they are buried beneath a building and Steve isn't sure how many Civilians got caught up with them, he's not even sure if the others are buried someplace with them.

Steve tugs off his suit coat and tears the sleeves off, wrapping the coat around his waist suddenly glad Tony had insisted on tails for it, making it longer than he is around, making it so that Steve can actually tie it around his waist, stuffing the knot into the hole that whatever the guy had shot at Tony made.

A groan makes Steve look over at Tony as he shifts sluggishly in to awareness.

"Tony?" Steve asks, shifting himself so that he can look down at the man in their little pocket of air and dust and concrete.

"Shit, Steve." Tony murmured, "You alright?"

Steve shrugged, "I don't feel anything wrong." Which was true, he couldn't feel the hole in his chest, and he wasn't blurry from blood loss yet so he would be fine, "How about you?"

"I think... I think my leg might be broken, it hurts really bad, and maybe a concussion." Tony said slowly.

"Okay, okay." Steve muttered, he wasn't sure what they could do but wait, if they tried to dig out the could trigger cave in on someone else or even themselves.

"Probably the best thing to do is wait." Steve said softly, "I'll keep you awake, alright?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Tony agreed, "So, Natasha says you refuse to date."

"Tony!" Steve shouted.

"Hey, you can't run away from me now and I demand answers, I'll fall asleep if you don't." Tony threatened.

Steve sighed, he knew Tony was lying but he couldn't risk it.

"It just doesn't seem right, I talk to the girls Natasha suggests and they all call me Captain America, even after I tell them it's Steve and I guess it just feels lile they want to date Captain America not Steve Rogers, you know." Steve said quietly, it was true but not the only reason, after all who would want a man that can't feel their touch, that can't actually feel pleasure anymore.

Sure, he could get hard, could even come but he couldn't feel the sensation of his hand on his skin, could only watch his hand go and he knew that would bother most people, heck it bothered him, he missed connecting with another person, the closeness of sex, the intimacy of another person in his space.

"Never thought about that." Tony muttered, "And you're not one for meaningless sex."

Steve laughed a little, "Maybe if I was sure they wouldn't call me Captain in bed."

"Captain America, how dare you!" Tony said with a false scandalized tone.

Steve grinned down at Tony and dropped to cover his head as the rubble shifted and part of their sanctuary collapsed.

"That doesn't sound good." Tony whispered.

Steve glanced at where the rubble had fallen on his outstretched leg.

"It's not." Steve agreed as he noticed the bar of steel that now pinned his thigh to the ground.

\--

"I can't believe you used to draw naked women." Tony forced out.

Steve gave a weak laugh, "Yeah, Bucky used to talk 'em into it, let 'em take the drawin's for their soldiers, most of 'em couldn't afford photos, 'nd I gave 'em cheap."

Tony blinked the darkness from his eyes, he had to stay awake, had to keep Steve awake. 

Tony had noticed the man slurring his words a bit ago, and wondered how injured the man was, he had to have lied to Tony when he'd asked, or the collapse had gotten him but Steve had sounded fine, looked fine too but now he'd dropped a little closer to Tony where he shielded Tony's head.

God, Tony loved his eyes, and he was blaming the concussion for that but they were beautiful up close.

Tony wondered where his coat went, it had looked so nice stretching over Steve's shoulders, though the shirt stretched nicely as well.

"Tony?" Steve slurred as he shifted.

He didn't sound like he was in pain but maybe he was beyond pain.

"Yeah, I'm still here." Tony assured.

"Sorry, I'm..." Steve stopped, "How long do'ya figure it's been?"

"They've probably gotten a lot of people out, we were at the center of the second blast." Tony reminded him.

Steve frowned, "I don't remember a second blast."

Tony frowned too, he remembered Steve shoving him and then the explosion that collapsed the building seconds after that first shot.

"Steve, did you get shot for me?" Tony asked, that shot might have killed him, it would have hit him in the Reactor but Steve, Steve was taller, it have hit him in the stomach.

Steve was silent, face scrunched up adorably, "I don't know, can't remember, can't feel anything."

Tony breathed in sharply, not feeling was never a good thing.

"Steve..." 

"S'alright, haven't felt anything since they woke me up, near cut off my hand making breakfast." Steve muttered as he shifted down to rest his head on Tony's shoulder.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Mm, J.A.R.V.I.S. helps during missions, very brilliant man, thing?" Steve sounded confused.

Tony wondered how much blood he'd lost, sure the other man was hurt now.

"Steve." Tony began.

"I think I might have lost too much blood, Tony." Steve murmured as his eyes drifted closed, "Think the bar in m' leg hit somethin' major, stomach wounds don' usually hit me so bad."

"Steve, Steve, you have to stay awake." Tony shouted, his own drowsiness being pushed back by that alarming news.

"Sorry, I don' think I can do tha'." Steve slurred out as Tony felt his full weight fall against his shoulder.

"Steve! Steve!" Tony shouted.

"Tony!" Natasha's voice came from above and slightly to the left.

"Natasha! We're here!" Tony shouted, even as he shook Steve.

"Steve's with you?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, he's hurt, he passed out." Tony yelled.

Tony heard cursing but it was too quiet to properly make out.

"We have to be careful, the building shifts almost everytime we make progress digging people out." Bruce explained, "How bad is Steve, do you think, what can you tell us?"

"I think he's got something through his leg, and I think he took the hit aimed at me before the building blew." Tony told them.

"That's impossible, Tony, he'd be dead, that was something like a grenade shot from a hand gun." Bruce said.

"Probably explains why he passed out." Tony said.

"The serum might be good, but it's not that good." Clint said, Tony could hear the frown.

"Except for the part where it kept him alive for seventy years trapped in an ice burg." Tony snapped.

It took a while longer before the others managed to dig down far enough to drop down into their hold to access them.

Tony tried to insist they pull Steve out first but the way the bar went through his leg was problematic. 

Steve was right that it hit something major but it was also keeping him from bleeding out for the most part.

The stomach wound was also a problem due to shrapnel that the Serum was healing around which in turn had ripped through the newly healed organs and tissues, reinjuring Steve everytime he moved or breathed.

Tony was glad Steve hadn't been able to feel it if what he'd said about not being able to feel after he'd been defrosted was true.

Tony was lifted out while they were still trying to stabilize Steve and felt the anesthetic take him before he could protest it's use.

\---

A/n: i don't know what happens next yet but i will probably add another chapter eventually but it's late/early and I need to sleep so good night ladies and gents and all those that fall between or elsewhere, read a happy story before you slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve wakes up in the ambulance because the EMTs are giving him blood to replace what he's lost and he becomes aware, he doesn't speak yet, listening to the half panicked orders and calls the people around him are making.

There is a strange pressure in his stomach and the pressure of hands against his thigh, Steve supposes that it is where they are keeping him from bleeding out again.

The ambulance stops and there is movement as his stretcher is lifted out and rushed into the hospital.

Steve turns his head as he catches sight of a second vehicle, he wonders if Tony is alright.

"Steve." There is surprise in Natasha's voice as she rushes over to him when she catches his eyes.

"Is Tony?" Steve coughs what he assumes is building dust from his throat.

"He's been given anesthetic so they can set his leg, they say he'll be alright." Natasha tells him, ignoring the horrified looks on the faces of the medical professionals around them when they see him awake.

Steve catches a glimpse of hands in his stomach and follows the hands up to a young, wide eyed kid that stares back in horror as Steve looks at him.

Steve forces a smile, "Don't worry, I can't feel it."

The kid doesn't look reassured, in fact Steve thinks he may have made it worse.

"Steve." Natasha begins.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. knows." Steve tells her as a group of surgeons surround his stretcher.

"How are you still awake?" One asks.

Steve's eyes flicker to the transfusion bag, "Anesthetic isn't going to put me out." 

The group looks just as horrified as Bucky had when he'd found out back during the War.

At least now Steve wouldn't be feeling every slice and stitch, fingers squeezing tight on his arteries to allow them to heal together like they should.

They took him back to an operating room, glancing at Natasha to see if she was coming but Steve shook his head when she glanced at him.

She worried about them when they got hurt and Steve didn't want her to watch them piecing him back together, he knew she could, knew she would but it'd haunt her.

"Find Tony." Steve told her and she nodded slightly, placing a kiss to his forehead before vanishing down a hall.

Steve closed his eyes as the doctors prepared themselves and Steve watched them as they started removing the shrapnel from his stomach.

Each ping of metal against metal was oddly familiar and he half grinned.

"How are you doing there Captain?" A female doctor asked.

Steve glance at her, "Fine, this just reminded me of last time I had someone's hands in my stomach."

"This has happened before?" A young nurse asked, surprised but responded to the main doctor's demand.

"Yeah, got hit from blowback when Dum Dum threw a grenade at a tank I was running by. We finished the mission and well...," Steve paused as he watched the doctor pull a rather large chunk of metal out, "We had to get the shrapnel out and Bucky was the only one brave enough to stick his hands inside, he threw up after, of course, but his hands stayed steady the entire time he was wrist deep. Let me tell you that it was not a pleasant feeling. Pretty sure the Serum ramped up my sensations."

The doctors exchanged glances, all of which were uneasy.

"Hey, it's all right, the ice changed that, I can't feel anything anymore, not pain or pleasure, you're fine." Steve assured them, adding in the ice part in hopes that will help reassure them.

One of the younger doctors took a breath and started talking about hypothermia and amputation and frost bite and Steve smiled a little.

"This your first hands on surgery?" Steve asked.

The kid paused and looked over at the older doctor who shrugged and continued with pulling metal out of Steve.

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous and I haven't done anything." The kid said.

"You're distracting me, I may not be able to feel what's going on but watching it is still a bit weird." Steve smiled, "Hey, do you think I can keep the shrapnel, I could probably get Tony to make something out of it."

The main doctor stared at him, "I check."

"Thanks." Steve grinned and then spent most of the next few hours taking to the baby surgeons, convincing the older doctor to let them each sew a portion of him up.

"It's not gonna scar, it didn't last time." Steve told them with a shrug.

When they were done they wheeled him out and settled him in the room Tony was in because Steve insisted, warned them that if he wasn't in the same room he'd go and find Tony himself.

They extracted a promise from him to stay in the bed until he started healing around his stitches before agreeing.

Steve felt his body relax at the sight of Tony asleep in the other bed and he suddenly felt very tired.

The sight of Tony asleep nearby reassured Steve that they were both alright and Steve felt himself begin to fall asleep, he would probably sleep for a couple days to recover, he wasn't sure though, last time he hadn't been able to sleep long, not with the War going on, he'd gotten a few hours but the wound had already been healed around the stitches Bucky had put in and they'd been a nightmare cutting them out but they had.

Steve forced his eyes open to get another reassuring look at Tony's chest rising and falling gentle before he let sleep take him away.

\---

A/n: this is set after Avengers and before Captain America the Winter Soldier, which I haven't decided if it exists in this universe since the last chapter gave me Tony/Steve vibes and honestly Bucky/Steve is my preferred pairing when Bucky is involved.

Of course I haven't really decided if this will even be a pairing fic so...

We'll see.


End file.
